Russell and Jonas Wendell’s 1870 Presentation

This was stated some time ago concerning Charles Taze Russell and Jonas Wendell:

In 1870, at age eighteen, he cautiously attended a presentation by the famous Adventist preacher, Jonas Wendell. Wendell focused on what Russell considered to be rational, logical matters relating to Biblical prophecy and chronology, drawing attention to the future date of 1874 as the supposed date for Christ’s return.

The above statement appears to be no longer online. Much of what is stated, however, appears to be presumed. According to Russell, something happened at the meeting that rekindled his faith in Bible, but Russell stated that when he attended that meeting, he did not accept Wendell's views on chronology or his dates. Wendell, however, was expecting Christ to return in 1873, not 1874. Wendell died in August of 1873, before October of 1873 had arrived.

Another states concerning Brother Russell and Wendell:

In 1870, he heard an Adventist preacher named Jonas Wendell, who impressed the young Russell with his application of logical thinking to the Bible. Wendell, a former follower of millenarian preacher William Miller, predicted the bodily return of Christ in 1873 or 1874. Inspired, Russell started a Bible study in Pittsburgh and eagerly awaited the second coming. Rather than being disheartened by Christ's failure physically to return by 1874, Russell believed that Christ had indeed spiritually manifested himself in the hearts of those waiting for him that year, inspiring Russell to write his first book, The Object and Manner of the Lord's Return.

This likewise, is not fully accurate. Wendell was expecting Christ to return around October of 1873, but we haven't found any evidence that he ever mentioned 1874. The statement appears to assume that Russell, in 1870, accepted Wendell's conclusions about Christ's return. Russell, himself, however, stated that in 1870 he did not accept Wendell's views. It was not until about six years later (in 1876) that Russell accepted any date related to Christ's return.  

Another states:

He briefly left the church, until age 18, when he attended a presentation by the Adventist preacher Jonas Wendell. During this presentation, Wendell used the extensive calculations of William Miller to prove that the scriptures revealed Jesus Christ would return to Earth between 1873 and 1874.

Because Wendell used logic to prove this theory, Russell felt comfortable believing him. Thus, Russell's faith was restored in Christianity. In 1870, Russell and his friends formed a Bible study group in Pittsburgh to discuss the problems they had discovered in the Bible and the issues they had with Christianity. The study group was also joined by Adventist pastors George Storrs and George Stetson, who shaped some of Russell's early beliefs about immortality and resurrection. After extensively studying the Bible, Russell believed he had found errors, and thus achieved a better understanding of the Christian religion. Unfortunately, Jesus Christ did not appear as predicted between 1873 and 1874. This, however, did not disappoint Russell. He believed that Jesus Christ did not appear visibly, but that his invisible presence had come as scheduled.

Evidently, the above also no longer appears to be online. Again, however, we have found no evidence that Wendell ever mentioned 1874. What is presented makes it appear that Russell did accept Wendell's views that Christ was to return in 1873 (or 1874) but when it did not occur, that Russell taught that Christ had returned invisibly. Russell, however, stated that he did not accept Wendell's conclusions, and that it was not until 1876 that met with Barbour, who convinced Russell that Christ had returned in 1874. Russell indicated, however, that sometime before 1874 he had already concluded that Christ's return was to be in spirit, not in the flesh. Thus, this idea was not new to him when he met with Barbour in 1876. However, before 1876, Russell reports that he rejected the dates of Wendell and the Second Adventists, so before 1876, although Russell had accepted that Christ was not to return in the flesh, he had not accepted any date for Christ's return. 
 

Nevertheless, one can still find many similar statements on a few websites and in various forums, discussion groups, etc. Even some Bible Students have presented similar thoughts. The points we do not find support for are:

1) that Brother Russell accepted, in 1869 or 1870, Wendell's view that Christ was to return in 1873 (later 1874);

2) that when Christ did not return in 1874, Russell then presented the idea that Christ had returned, but invisibly.

Such thoughts cannot be verified with what Russell actually wrote, and what Brother Russell did write shows that Brother Russell did not, as a result of attending that meeting of Wendell in 1869 or 1870, accept 1873 or 1874 as the date of Christ's return. Russell did say that Wendell aroused his interest in Christ's return, as he stated, "though he first awakened my interest on the subject, I was not a convert, either to the time he suggested nor to the events he predicted. I, in company with others in Pittsburgh, organized and maintained a Bible class for the searching of the Scriptures, meeting every Sunday."

Then, Russell states that up the 1876,

We persistently ignored time and looked with pity upon Mr. Thurman's and Mr. Wendel's ideas. (The latter was preaching the same time as Bro. Barbour; viz: The burning of the world in 1873.) We regarded those ideas as unworthy of consideration.

See:
https://reslight.boards.net/post/2019/thread
wherein Russell describes those years.

Some leave the idea that Russell around 1869 or 1870, by having chanced upon Wendell’s presentation, came to be believe at that time that Christ’s return was to be in 1873/4, which definitely disagrees with what Russell himself stated in the supplement to the first issue of the Watch Tower in 1879, for in that supplement he plainly states that he did not accept the return of Christ as related to 1874 until the year 1876, and this was about two years after 1874. Some even go so far to claim that Brother Russell then, in 1860/70, claimed to be a prophet, and as a prophet had begun to foretell that Christ was to return in 1873 or 1874. Of course, Brother Russell never claimed to be a prophet.

The concern is that the statements that are often being presented leaves the impression that Russell, due to coming to believe that Christ was to return in 1874, had his faith in the Bible restored, which does not appear to be the true case as he states. Many also make it appear that Russell became a follower of Jonas Wendell around 1869, which is definitely not true. While we suppose that it is possible that Wendell may have been speaking on some aspects of the Lord’s return, it should be evident that Russell did not accept Wendell’s views of Christ’s return in 1873 (later changed to 1874, evidently by Barbour) until 1876, two years after 1874. Up until 1876, as he stated, he “persistently ignored time and looked with pity upon Mr. Thurman’s and Mr. Wendel’s ideas.”

As to the claim that due to the alleged failure of Christ to return in 1874, that Brother Russell then began to teach that Christ had returned invisibly. Russell's statements show that he did not accept the date 1874 as being Christ's return until 1876, about two years after 1876, so he could not have been preaching anything about Christ returning in 1874 before 1874 had arrived. 

However, many often also go on to misrepresent what happened in 1876, when they make it appear that he then came to believe that Christ's return is invisible because of the word "parousia", and Barbour's explanation of that word. While usage of the word "parousia" in the Bible does support that his parousia begins before the world recognizes that presence, Russell states this is in agreement with his conclusion which he had reached around 1872, about two years before 1874, that is, that since Jesus had sacrificed his body of flesh for sin, he was not raised in the flesh, but in the spirit, and thus Jesus returns in the spirit, not in the flesh. -- 1 Peter 3:18.

See also Russell and 1874 resource page.